Small Community Hospital Pilot Program; establish.
What changed between versions
Establishes the Small Community Hospital Pilot Program defining 'small community hospital' as a hospital in a county with no municipality exceeding 15,000 population (2020 census) or within the Delta Public Health Region. Excludes federal Rural Emergency Hospitals.
Adds legislative findings justifying continuation of moratoriums on skilled nursing facilities, intermediate care facilities, ICF-IID, and home health agencies, citing fiscal integrity of Medicaid, prevention of excess capacity, and cost containment.
Removes the House version's blanket exemption for 'rural hospitals' from all CON requirements. The old subsection (24) that exempted rural hospitals from any activity requiring a CON is deleted entirely.
Replaces the rural hospital exemption in Section 41-7-191(24) with a CON exemption for any activity conducted in Issaquena County or Humphreys County, subject to existing moratoriums on certain certificates of need.
Narrows the CON requirement for ambulatory surgical services by removing the explicit language covering 'single-specialty ambulatory surgical services owned or operated by private physicians or any other individual or entity,' potentially reducing the scope of services requiring a CON in that category.
Each qualifying small community hospital receives one CON exemption (two if in the Delta region), limited to the main building campus and a five-mile radius. Exemptions cannot extend to off-campus clinics or facilities, cannot apply to services under a general CON moratorium, and cannot apply if the hospital would be within 35 miles of another licensed hospital or jeopardize its federal critical access designation.
Allows the State Health Officer to license up to eight small community hospitals to operate end-stage renal disease (ESRD) facilities, with no more than two per Public Health Region. Hospitals most remote from existing dialysis units receive priority. ESRD licenses count toward the exemption allotment.
Allows any small community hospital to obtain a license to operate a geriatric psychiatric unit, limited to the main campus and five-mile radius. This license does not count toward the exemption allotment.
Requires the Department of Health and Division of Medicaid to conduct biennial reviews of capacity and utilization data, Medicaid expenditure trends, evidence of excess capacity or unmet need, five-year fiscal projections under continuation and removal scenarios, and state fiscal exposure. First joint report due December 1, 2026, then every second year.
The State Health Officer's decision to issue a license under the pilot program is final and not subject to judicial review. The only remedy is a request for reconsideration within seven calendar days, followed by an informal hearing between 14 and 21 days from the original decision with no right to discovery.
Amends Section 41-7-201 to require any party who appeals an approved CON application and loses to reimburse the applicant for all attorney, consultant, and other fees related to the appeal if the final order is not vacated or set aside by chancery court or the Supreme Court.
Small community hospitals must apply for their exemption or license on or before June 30, 2027, or their eligibility expires. Exemptions are non-transferable unless the hospital itself is transferred.
Removes the House provision directing review of feasibility for requiring health care facilities to treat a certain percentage of uninsured patients or pay a periodic fee, with funds distributed to licensed hospitals with emergency departments. Replaced with a narrower feasibility study limited to acute adult psychiatric units.
Removes the House provision that applicants for a CON to establish a general acute care hospital in certain counties would not be required to pay a filing fee.
